Some time ago I started writing for an international semi-underground magazine by the name of Avalanche. It's a veryambitious magazine and the editorial staff (consisting of 4people, one of them being me) is very optimistic and thinks themagazine will have a circulation of 10,000 copies by the end of1995. For now, however, this gives me the opportunity to reviewmore music, to go to more concerts and to interview more bands. Obituary was one of the bands to perform at Wâldrock, July 9th1994. I remember thinking after having finished the previousissue of ST NEWS, "I hope I'll be in a position to do some morecool interviews, with Obituary and Dream Theater or Rush orsomething like that." Well, some others came along and I stillhave some wishes left, but at least now I could have a go atObituary, one of my favourite bands ever since getting into touchwith them around, say, winter 1990.

The day was progressing. It had rained some time earlier but thewhole rest of the day seemed to promise dry and sunny weather. Iroamed backstage most of the time when no interesting band wasplaying, an act I believe we refer to as "vipping". 'Backstage'is actually far too ornamental a word for the mess behind thelarge stage, off limits to the general audience. Basically it wasa farmer's backyard filled with parked cars, Trans Am Truckingvehicles and tour vans, between which some people kicked around asoccer ball and other ambled around nervously in search ofsomething or other. Rather deep trenches had formed themselveswhere heavy trucks had ploughed through the sodden earth - aperfect place to sprain your ankle. Anathema had finished playing and Skintrade was due to appearnext. After downing another beer for courage I started talking tosome official-looking people, asking them whether perhaps theywere aware of Obituary having arrived already. This band was notscheduled to appear on stage until somewhat late in the eveningbut, as chance would have it, they had already arrived. I was guided into a large shack. It was quite cool, on thecontrary to outside, where it was sometimes a bit stuffy. Half ofthe ramshackle building, most of its windows broken, was occupiedby stacks of hay, and there were even a few chickens thatscattered away as we walked through. A bit further downprovisional walls had been made of ropes and hanging sheets. Allbands had their dressing rooms here, with the exception of Gwar(they were housed in a special army tent at the other side of thebackstage area). Band name labels identified these dressingsrooms, and as one sheet was flapped open I was ushered into theObituary dressing room. Mitch of Napalm Death (who does a projecttogether with some member of Obituary, called Meat Hook Sheet Ibelieve) was talking with some of the guys. I had troublerecognizing them. All long hair has been gathered in ponytailsand stuck under baseball caps, and Frank Watkins (bass) had cutoff most of his hair altogether. Trevor Peres (rhythm guitar)didn't look his usual evil stage self and John Tardy (vocals)looked altogether too small, too normal. I was introduced to Donald Tardy, drummer, and we were guided toa van outside where we could commence the interview in relativepeace and quiet. I was sweating quite profusedly, what with therebeing no breeze in the van to cool me down and there being enoughsun to do some proper heating. With the Skintrade soundcheck inthe background I started the interview with my usual firstquestion, the usual mixture of interview interest and "BrainReplacement Utility" event/birthday database research.

Well, Donald, what's your place and date of birth, and do youknow that of any of the others? Donald: Miami, Florida, January 28th 1970. My brother was bornin the same place, Miami, Florida, on March 15th 1968. Before you were in Obituary the band was called Xecutioner. Butwhat did you do before that? Donald: Um...I was a junior highschool student. I was very youngat the age we actually started the band, 1983 was when we firststarted it as Xecutioner. I was 13 years old, so I was stillgoing to school and basically being a young kid. We were all veryyoung at the time when we met. We were just kids, friends hangingaround, that wanted to be in a band. Why was the name changed? Donald: Because when we were gonna release our album there wasalready a band from Boston called Executioner, from Boston,Massachusetts. We knew we had to change it before we did thefirst album, so that's why we thought of an appropriate name. Andat the time that was Obituary. What can you tell us about the forthcoming album, "WorldDemise"? Donald: The new album has 12 songs. It was produced by Obituaryand Scott Burns and help-mixed by my live sound man, Big Shirt (?, ED.). So it's a combination of these that brought theproduction together. I was pretty excited about the new albumbecause we've gone through a lot of shit, I think, usingMorrisound every time, if you're familiar with it, if not, it'sjust a basic...we were...you know this is our fourth album usingMorrisound and Scott Burns and a lot of people on the last albumsaid they think we should have changed to try and make maybe abetter album. We're really confident in our decision of goinginto Morrisound. We knew we had 12 songs for the new album, wewent in there, we had quite a few different things ideas-wise, wehad some samples that we have going throughout the songs, somesongs that we wrote just for the samples, em, just a littledifferent in, how can you say, in the song style, in the writingof the songs, there's maybe just a twist, a little more groove tothe music and maybe just not so fast, maybe not a million-mile-an-hour bass drum but still songs that are very heavy but [that]are very easy to listen to for everybody in the crowd. Around this time the chauffeur of the bus, who had been eatinghis luncheon and not distracting us at all, is been joined byanother guy who promptly starts discussing things with the man inFrisian. Instead of entering a discussion starting off with "Hey,would you mind? We're doing an interview here," I continue. Does the new album sound more 'live', what with your live manbeing involved in the mix? Donald: The album was recorded a little bit more 'live', Ithink, because for one thing we didn't sample the snare drum andthe toms and shit like we did on one of our albums. We did playlive; I played my drums live in the studio, and the way we mikedit has a lot of philosophy on what would sound good live. And wetook that to the studio and really used that to the best of ourability to get a better production, I think, doing it that way. Scott Burns is almost like a sixth member of the band. What didhe contribute to the album? Donald: He brought us the confidence that, even if we don't knowhow to run a computer or sampler, you know, the machine we boughtto just go beyond death metal, em, he convinced us that as longas we make up the ideas in our brains that him and his assistantis gonna get this out of our brains and into the board the way wewant it. And I think that was important for the band because alot of bands have an idea but can't really explain it to aproducer that they're not friends with or not close to or thatthey can't really relate to. And it was really important forObituary on this album to stick with what they were feelingcomfortable with, because it is our most important album, ourfourth and biggest album that we're gonna release, so, em, it wasa decision of staying with Scott because we're definitelycomfortable [with him] and wanted to feel comfortable with thisalbum. Was it recorded with the same line-up as your previous album,"The End Complete"? Donald: Yup. Same band members (Donald Tardy drums, John Tardyvocals, Frank Watkins bass, Allen West lead guitar, Trever Peresrhythm guitar, ED.). Why is the album this much delayed? Donald: I think a combination of things. A very small portionof it was, I guess the recording and the preparation for thealbum took maybe 3, 4, 6 months more than we had actuallyanticipated. But even bigger than that, the band's been done withit for 4 months. It could have been released already. The wholekey to it, I think, is timing. They're waiting for the perfecttime to release it, not only for what other bands are releasingbut also, when Obituary is gonna be here the album is there, sowe're definitely on tour at the time of the hottest part of thealbum, which is gonna be the first three months of sales. And wereally wanted the time to tour. It comes out in the United Statesin perfect timing when we're there, and in Europe. That's thedelay now, the label knows when it is the best time to releasethe album. What bands influence you most? Donald: The band as a whole, I think, is not influenced by othermusic that we think...that we think is good enough to put in ourmusic. We don't look at bands and say, "Man, this band's gettingbig, we need to kinda do something like this." We've beentogether for 10 years, and we have a very unique writing stylefrom day one since we've been writing, and we've always stuck tothat, which is listening to music which has actually nothing todo with our band and when we come down to write our own music. Welisten to anything from rap to house music, techno, em, acidrock, country music. I listen to a wide variety of music, but oneof the varieties I wouldn't say would be a heavy metal or a deathmetal band when I'm at home listening to my stereo, or in the buslistening to headphones. I stay away from it because I'm doing itall year long, I hear it every day of my life when I'm on theroad. I can't say that a band that's real heavy is influencing mefor the last album or is gonna influence me for writing songs forthe new album. I think the thing that influences us has somethingto do with music but it's things like this, when we get to cometo a festival and play with bands we've never played with before,play in front of some kids we've never played in front of before,and hope that these kids are going to enjoy Obituary. That's aninfluence for Obituary as a whole, to really keep their eyes andminds set on being influenced in the right way to write newmusic, I think. What with Morbid Angel, Death and Obituary all sortof comingfrom Florida, is this state seething with death metal bands? Donald: No, I believe people here and people in the UnitedStates that don't live in Florida get that concept that there's amillion bands and a million people and a million fans and amillion...em...whatever for death metal and the whole scene, butFlorida is very laid back, the population is mainly, em, thereare young kids that are getting into it and there are more kidsthan compared to 2 or 3 years ago that are getting into it, butit's just like any other part of the world. It got flooded in thelast few years, with the scene, I think any place, includinghere, has blown up. There's a million bands, there's a millionfans, and right now it's an important part, you know, to allthese bands when they realise that they don't make it on onealbum. They write another album but it's hard to write 2 or 3good albums. So, it's important right now for Obituary to realisethat we have a good album, get out on the road, and wait for allthese millions of bands to fade out and let the kids reallyconcentrate on us. It struck me as a terribly arrogant thing to say, but Donald'sentire disposition makes it evident he doesn't mean it like that.There's no smug grin, no feeling of superiority here, just amatter-of-fact statement without the intent of weight. I continuewith a question about the bass player on their debut album,Daniel Tucker. There was a story going around about the mandisappearing altogether for months and retrieved much later,totally confused. What was true about that story? Donald: Nothing, that's a bunch of hype for the band, we werejust making a joke. Daniel just didn't fit the band and he wasn'tvery responsible. He wouldn't show up for a couple of practises,or he wouldn't, you know, contribute. It obviously wasn't goingto work. The rumour just started like any other, but there's notmuch to be said about it, you know. He was a bass player thatfilled the spot until we found Frank. OK then, who is your favourite drummer? Donald: It's hard to say. I guess, I mean, for me beingimpressed by somebody it would have to be Vinnie Paul. He's a biginfluence on me individually. Actually not songwriting-wise,because I don't think Obituary and Pantera have any musical...em...you can't say either has been influenced by the othermusically, but for me being a musician and seeing how perfect ofa drummer he is, how disciplined his feet are, and his legs, howdetermined he is... At this moment Skintrade starts playing. Donald closes a vanwindow, thinks for a while where he was, then continues. Donald: I would guess, I mean, there's a lot of drummers, I'mnot the type of drummer to buy a thousand videos and watch allthese drummers, like Steve Smith, and...em...just a milliondrummers. I don't do that. I'm into bands, I'm into the livescene, I'm into amateur people that are getting better and betterevery day - like myself, like Igor from Sepultura, like Vinnie.They don't consider us a professional. I mean, *I* don't considermyself a professional. I consider myself a professional musicianand a business man, but I don't consider myself to be the perfecttype. So I'm influenced by anybody that impresses me. I think thewhole key is being open to anything. I'd listen to anything -jazz, country, acid rock, as long as the drummer's impressive Irespect that person in every way. What's your favourite book? Donald: I don't read (smiles). I just drum. (Preparing him for a "fave film" question) But you do go and seefilms, do you? Donald: To tell you the truth, we were home for a year and onemonth and I didn't see one video or one film. I didn't seeanything. I think the last movie I saw was "The Fugitive", thatwas on video. But you do eat I suppose. So what's your favourite food? Donald: I would say Italian, I'd have to say some kind of pasta,I just like something that's easy to eat. I don't likefingerpicking food, I don't like dealing, you know, with seafoodthat you have to pick bones out of, fish, I just like to pick upa big spoon or a fork and just chew it, whether it's Chili, orsomething easy to eat. I like all food. What's your fave drink? Donald: (Thinks for a while) Beer. Any beer. And what's your favourite Obituary song? Donald: (Thinks for a while, there are obviously a few) Probably"Solid State", that's off the new album. We're gonna play ittoday. The record company executive who introduced me to the band opensthe door to the van, requesting us to relocate. It had to be usedto pick up another band. We move to a spot behind another van,hopefully as much out of reach of Skintrade as possible (whichisn't too much anyway). For some reason or other, this locationalso forms the start of the last section of the interview, the"words to react to" section. Bill Clinton. Donald: A man who's got a lot of shit to deal with and who Ipersonally don't think is the man for the job. He's just likeanybody in politics; he's looking out for himself and that's justabout it. Any way he can, to suck up, to kiss ass to anybody, hewill. But when it comes down to what he does for the earth andwhat he does for the people, what he does for the United States,is just as bad if not worse than what the basic public does,financially, for the United States. I don't like to say the word"idiot", but I don't care for the man at all. Scott Burns. Donald: One of my best friends. MTV. Donald: Not enough. Too much shit. They need more real music.I'd be happy with an hour of something like "Headbanger's Ball" aday. Roadrunner (their record company, at least for Europe). Donald: Doing the job for now (grins). We're not actuallylooking out for another deal, we would like to see one butRoadrunner does us OK. They're doing the job right now for us andI think to bring Obituary to the next level what it's gonna takeis a major label and getting a major scene. Sepultura just signeda Sony record deal. We've just played three shows with them and Iheard their manager tell them they had the word that they wentgold in Australia. Kids are opening up and it's very importantthat they understand that Obituary is a serious band that will bearound for many more albums. Wâldrock. Donald: Very, very...em...very, very cool thing for the kids.Not all death metal but also other music that at least the kidscan relate to. Last, would you like to reveal something with regard toObituary's future projects? Donald: This album will come out in the United States as an EPone month before the release. Three songs, one song of which is abonus track. There's 13 songs for the album but there's only 12on the album. So one of them is a bonus track for the EP. InEurope, after that album comes out, a 7" is gonna be releasedwith that song, so that's something in the making. Also thisyear, hopefully within the end of '94 and recording through '95,by the end of '95 I would like to see Obituary with sufficientstuff that we're gonna put out live, maybe a live album or a livevideo. It's a wish, but reality is that Obituary *is* gonnarelease something live. We're not sure what it's gonne be, ifit's gonna be an album release or whether it's gonna be a homevideo to see us live. There's definitely going to be somethinglive released from Obituary. Probably "best live stuff ofObituary around the world" or something. If my live sound man hasenough time with the board and he's got enough good shows we'vegot a lot to pick through. We've recorded some stuff, but thisyear we're gonna concentrate on some really good recordings, toreally seriously do a live album, not an album that you're goingto have to clean up, redo the solos, or re-sing it. It's gonna becompletely live. If I drop a stick and it hits the drums you'regonna hear it, if my brother's voice cracks you'll hear it, ifBig Al (Allen West, ED.) fucks up a little in the solo you'llhear it, because Obituary I think is a very good live band andthat's what we want to put out. That signifies the end of the interview. We walk back to thedressing room ("dressing bunch-of-blankets-held-up-with-ropes")because I had told Donald I had a few questions for John too, ifhe didn't mind. And, of course, I had some of my CD liners tosign (as well as some that friends had quickly inserted in myhands). Just outside the dressing room, I get the chance to ask John thequestions. It's quite a bit closer to the stage so there's abloody racket, basically. I find it extraordinary that his voiceis totally normal. Barney's voice (the singer of Napalm Death) istotally knackered, but John's isn't. Say, John, do you use vocal effects? John: For the most part none, nothing. Any effects you hear onthe record or live are just obvious, well, delays or whatever. I had read that many parts of Obituary lyrics are not truelyrics as such, but more a case of using the voice as aninstrument. How does he go about that? And is a song differenteach time he sings it? John: No, it's always the same. It's sortof a language I kindadeveloped of my own, so if I run out of words that don't soundright I'd just make up one that sounds right. Will the next album have a lyric sheet? John: No. I thank John who sits down to sign the collected CD bookletswith the others. Quickly I ask Trevor a question. I had oftentried to play along with Obituary on my guitar, only to find outtheir guitars are tuned lower. How low? Trevor: We're down-tuned to D (that's a full note down, ED.).

I went back outside after waiting for the guys to finish the CDbooklets. They were never in the same room all at the same timeso I didn't get them to do a group photograph with the "ST NEWS -The Atari ST Disk Magazine" T-shirt. Just prior to them having tobe on stage, however, a lot later that day, I succeeded with thatgoal. My next task - apart from actually checking out Gorefest,Napalm Death and Obituary playing - was to locate and interviewnone other than Gwar, probably one of the most illustrious bandsin the world. I was quite nervous about that, but this can all beread in another article in ST NEWS.

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